Subject Guide

About this page

There are dozens of studies about financial literacy in the United States published online. Here are a few to get you started.

PISA 2012 Results: Students and Money (Volume VI)

This sixth volume of PISA 2012 results examines 15-year-old students’ performance in financial literacy in the 18 countries and economies that participated in this optional assessment. It also discusses the relationship of financial literacy to students’ and their families’ background and to students’ mathematics and reading skills. The volume also explores students’ access to money and their experience with financial matters. In addition, it provides an overview of the current status of financial education in schools and highlights relevant case studies.

Survey of the States

The Survey of the States is an biennial report about K-12 economic and financial education in the United States.

Key Findings:

All 50 states and the District of Columbia include economics in the K-12 standards for the first time.

While more states are implementing standards in economics, no improvement has been seen in the number of states requiring students to take an economics course as a high school graduation requirement. That number has remained steady at 22 since 2011.

Improvement has been seen in the area of personal finance course requirements. Four more states require students to take a personal finance course (or require that personal finance be included in an economics or civics course) as a high school graduation requirement, bringing the total to 17.

However, only 6 states require the testing of student knowledge in personal finance, only one more than in 2011.

To read the full report, see the accompanying video, or compare reports from previous years visit the following link: